The present invention relates to air blowers; and more particularly to a hand-held air blower with a rechargeable power supply.
Air blowers are useful in numerous situations such as for drying a surface before applying a paint or adhesive, for cleaning an object, fanning the body, for drying hair, or for supplying air to a fire in a charcoal grill or a fireplace. For such applications, a light, porable and self powered hand-held blower is extremely useful. A blower that can operate independent of the availability of an electric power supply will be useful in a greater variety of siutations than a blower which is constrained by the availability of electric outlets. Providing a blower with a rechargeable power supply makes such operation possible. However, if the recharageable power supply is unduly large, the air blower becomes unwieldy and the benefits of its being portable are lost.
In order for an air blower to be useful as a portable tool, it is important that the blower provide an air stream that can impact a surface one to three feet from the outlet of the blower. Further, it is preferred that the blower be capable of providing such an air stream over an extended period without frequent recharging. If such a blower can operate in excess of four hours on a single charge, the blower will be more useful to its operator. To achieve such an air stream over an extended period with a compact hand-held blower, it is important that blower turbulence be minimized. By decreasing air turbulence in the blower, a powerful air stream can be provided for an extended period without requiring the use of an excessively large or heavy rechargeable power supply.
It is also desirable that the rechargeable blower has a charging unit that is light and compact so that it can be easily carried in, for instance, a tool box, glove compartment or purse. Such a compact charger is convenient to transport and use. However, the charging unit should provide a support base on which the blower can be stored when not is use so that the blower will be available for use at any time without having to be precharged. Such a charging unit would preferably hold the air blower firmly in a position that electrically couples the blower with the charging base.
Thus, there exists a need to provide a light and compact blower having a rechargeable power supply that can operate the blower for a considerable length of time and that can be held and recharged by a charging base that is also compact and easily portable.